The Fall of the Aftons

061: Michael Afton

Michael hadn't meant to start crying. He didn't want to cry in the first place. But he hadn't expected Terrance to come up from behind him and take off his jacket, less than William come in and see. It certainly didn't help that William wanted to know more about what happened every day at school. Why did everyone want to know what happened to him every day? It didn't even matter! Kids are bullied all of the time--why was he so special?

As Michael's crying started to settle down, William set him down on the ground. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand as he stood there awkwardly. Once his crying finally stopped, he mumbled, "Sorry."

"It's fine. You're allowed to cry when you're upset," William replied with a sad smile. He slowly kneeled and gently took Michael's hand in his, his other hand poised to lift Michael's jacket sleeve. "May I?"

He hesitantly nodded his head, looking away as William pulled up his sleeve. He watched through the corner of his eye as William studied all of the injuries along his arm, gently tracing his fingers around one of the worst bruises.

"Oh mon Dieu," William mumbled sadly.

Michael looked at him, surprised. "You speak French?" he asked, his curiosity piqued. There was still so much that he didn't know about his father.

Now it was William's turn to look surprised. "Oh, did I switch languages?"

Michael nodded his head.

He chuckled. "Sorry. I never notice when I switch. My mother was from France, so I grew up speaking both English and French."

"Aster used to take French lessons at his high school before Khael and I were born," Michael said. "After he dropped out, he was always trying to practice it at home."

William smiled. "Did he ever try to teach you and your brother any French?"

He shook his head. "No. He always said that he wasn't very good at it."

"Learning new languages can be hard," William agreed.

~ ~ ~

"It's okay, Evan. Don't cry, it was only a nightmare," Michael mumbled sweetly as he held the crying infant close to him in a comforting hug. "Everything's all right. You're completely safe."

No matter how hard he tried, the little boy wouldn't stop crying. He wouldn't settle down.

Michael kept trying over and over again to get the little one to sleep, but Evan refused. He just continued to cry and cry and cry.

Michael yawned and looked around the room. Was there anything in here that could help calm Evan down and go to sleep? The only things that he could see could only see were Evan's pacifier and the emergency flashlight. William kept a flashlight in each room in case of a blackout or some other emergency. It was a smart idea, to keep an emergency light handy. It could be very helpful in bad situations.

Michael softly pushed Evan off of his lap and carefully climbed out of the crib. He stretched as he yawned, then grabbed the flashlight off of Evan's dresser. He went back over to the crib and leaned against the side, facing the bare wall, and switched on the flashlight. He put his hand in front of the beam of light, then started to move his fingers around to make shapes in the light.

Almost in an instant, Evan stopped crying. Michael looked back at him, surprised. His little brother was watching with curious eyes as he made figures and shapes in the light. A few tears were still falling from the little boy's eyes, but at least he was quiet.

Michael turned back around and continued to make shapes with his hands in the light until both boys fell asleep.

~ ~ ~

Michael woke up sprawled across the floor, the flashlight from last night still in his hand and his hair falling into his face. With a loud yawn, he slowly sat up and pushed his hair out of his face. He rubbed the drowsiness from his eyes and looked behind him, happy that Evan was sleeping peacefully. He gave a small smile. Evan rarely slept anymore. It wasn't that he struggled with falling asleep or anything. The poor kid just couldn't stay asleep without having a nightmare.

Suddenly, the phone started to ring. He carefully stood up and quietly left his little brother's bedroom, closing the door behind him. He walked down the hallway and into the empty room that held the phone, then picked it up from the stand and lifted it to his ear. "Afton home, this is Michael," he said automatically.

The sound of a shaking phone came from the other end, then the sound of heavy breathing. "Mike! Mike, it's Henry. I-Is your dad home?" Henry's voice asked. His voice cracked as he spoke and he sounded upset and hurt.

"Um, yes. Yes, he's home. He's in the shower right now, though, so he's not available."

"Oh. N-Never mind, then."

"Are you okay?" Michael asked, sort of worried. "You sound disconcerted."

"O-Oh, um, I... It's nothing for you to worry about," Henry reassured him. "Thanks for asking, though."

"Michael, who's on the phone?" William shouted from his bedroom downstairs.

Evan, who was in his bedroom, burst into a small fit of startled weeping. Poor kid. Almost everything that happened unexpectedly scared him.

Michael put his hand over the microphone on the telephone. "It's Henry," he shouted back. "He wants to talk to you."